It Would Seem I Have Been Missed?

Posted on Thursday, 20 November 2008 by Mrs. DoF

There has been much pestering, yes pestering! from several corners for me to write something on my blog.  The e-mails are numerous, folks coming over to me at church, an acquaintance I bumped into at Hobby Lobby apparently is an avid reader of me, even though our children graduated from public school years ago.

I’ll have to tell ya people, writing is not my favorite thing to do anymore.
Back in the day, I did have a titillating diary about what color skirt I wore to try to impress the guy who sat next to me in high school Chemistry class, but after typing out all those college research papers, and Mrs. N’s B- – – (that’s a B minus minus minus which was actually a grade written on the top of a paper) I really lost my oomph for pulling out the thesaurus to find a new adjective for ordinary.

Plus, I have been doing a whole bunch of Teaching Assistant positions, each with its own challenges.
And I am not supposed to say anything (which I would really have some stories to tell) outside of the job because of privacy purposes.

Somebody mentioned plans for the holiday.  The people coming to my house have been fewer and fewer these last years, what with the sons growing up and moving away.  Sometimes I have invited others, but I really don’t like all the extra work and worry of having others in my house.
I’d have to clean the toilet and mop the floors really special, otherwise somebody might be making a report to the health authorities.

The other evening, I loaded the dishwasher, washed all the extra stuff by hand, punched the buttons, then went to bed.

Next morning, there sat waiting the full drainer on the counter, and the green light glowing on the machine.
I went to the middle of the living room and yelled out “Whose turn is it to put away the dishes?”

The cats both came running, looking at me like I am crazy.
Which I am, a strong toehold grip on the edge of the cliff.

Same property where we raised three sons is too much these days.

Anyway, middle son Lucas is coming home Friday, so we are having a family dinner on Saturday, then on Sunday he is getting on a plane and going to the West Coast to see his sweetie.  She began a job out there the first of this month, and so does not have any recreation time built up.
His cat will be staying with youngest son Chris because our cats and the other cat cannot get along.

Our school break gives me Wednesday off, then the actual day itself, well, I have a fresh turkey on order, so I’ll be cooking up a storm, then having much leftovers for Chris and our freezer.

There is an open invitation to a church dinner in the community room, but we’re not much interested in mingling.  We all have jobs where we are with people non-stop, so a holiday is for rest and housework.

My own plans are to rearrange the Yarn Closet.  Husband has put up some shelves, and I have acquired some donation yarn, so organization moves to the top priority.

There have been some yarn items either crocheted or peg-loomed to put into my basket.
I’ll have pictures sooner or later.  Husband, the camera pro, says Saturday would be a good day.

After a morning being in the house for the treadmill repairman, (which the machine does sound much more in rhythm and quieter) I must now put on some shoes and get going to my Yarn Group.
We had our Craft Sale last Friday, and so I’m sure the project people have been busy doing calculations and income tally and sorting leftovers, so there will be much information to hear.

I’ll try not to be so long in writing again.
It seems MrsDoF Withdrawal is not pretty and no one likes silence.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

ps I got a new Darius Rucker cd last month for our wedding anniversary. Love It Love It Love It!

great use of one of the songs

Posted in Family | 2 Comments

Stayed inside to watch a video

Posted on Saturday, 8 November 2008 by Mrs. DoF

Somehow in my travels around the interwebs, I came across a story about Jimmy Stewart, the actor.

Of course, after reading that article first published in Meridian magazine, I had to order the video Mr. Krueger’s Christmas.

Yes, indeedy, a used but good vhs tape for $0.01 plus shipping arrived in only 3 days, long before I needed it to pass the time over Christmas break.

I decided to watch it today, since the temperature has dropped and the clouds look like snow might come, so winter blahs are setting in early.

It’s a nice story, really. Starring Jimmy Stewart? gotta be

I’m quite touched, especially since I didn’t know about it before.

If you get a chance to see it, I betcha you’ll like it.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

 

Posted in Reviews | 4 Comments

New Baby Name

Posted on Thursday, 6 November 2008 by Mrs. DoF

FOX news reports newborns and namesakes

a baby boy born in Florida has Obama as his middle name

and a mother in Maryland named her baby girl after his daughters

I’m gonna have some interesting Roll Call readings in a few years

~~love and Huggs, Diane

Posted in Thinking | 1 Comment

When I opened the door this morning

Posted on Wednesday, 5 November 2008 by Mrs. DoF

this is Mahalia’s view (her whiskers touched my hand while I pressed the shutter)

and here’s mine while I kneeled beside her

we were going out to fetch the paper
saying Barack Obama is now our President Elect
something I already knew from looking at online websites

I’m home today, waiting for the furnace maintenance guy, catching up laundry
and probably knitting a couple hats on the small peg loom

~~love and Huggs, Diane

Posted in Family | 2 Comments

Um, there’s an elephant in the parking lot

Posted on Sunday, 2 November 2008 by Mrs. DoF

During the month of October, our local Great Harvest bakery had Pumpkin Scones as a special a couple days a week.
I made sure to drive over a few times to make a purchase, once even getting a couple extra to drop off for son Chris and his roomie to enjoy.

On the last visit, in the parking lot of the same shopping plaza, I spied an elephant.
A fake elephant, thank goodness, but still. . . .

I didn’t have my camera with me right then, but when I mentioned the elephant down the way, the clerk said it had been there awhile because of another tenant in the building.

This morning, what with the time change giving us an extra hour, Husband and I decided to go out for the breakfast we didn’t get to have together on Saturday because I was being a volunteer at the church blood drive.

The restaurant is only a couple blocks from the elephant in the parking lot, so I made sure to have my camera handy.

Knowing Husband is much better with lighting and angles than I am, I asked him to get these pictures.

We just never know what’s gonna be seen in the land of the free 🙂

~~love and Huggs, Diane

Posted in Reviews | 2 Comments

Knitted hats done in middle of week

Posted on Thursday, 30 October 2008 by Mrs. DoF

There were no classes at schools on Wednesday, due to Parent-Teacher Conferences.  Being a TA Sub, I have no responsibility for such events, so I stayed home for fun.
Really, my car did not move, and the only time I went outside was to get the mail.

Kinda wrong somehow, the weather looked like a perfect Autumn day.

I did take pictures Sunday, from the end of the driveway.

click on that one ^ to see neighbor’s decorations

Here’s what I did Wednesday during my solitude

peg loom knitted hats of 4-ply acrylic
two newborn for donation to the hospital nursery,
and one in Pittsburgh Steelers colors for a dear friend

My life seems real nice when I have time to be sitting in the breakfast nook with the sunshine coming in through the windows, sipping tea, while listening to my new Darius Rucker CD, purchased from Amazon, but I’m too inept right now to provide a link.

This morning, I’m waiting for the maintenance guy to come check over the treadmill.
It has developed a noise for undetermined reasons.
Might maybe be cat hair stuck in a gear, who can say… .

Update:  the treadmill guy says that the trouble is in the motor.  I didn’t quite catch exactly what, but it is under warrantee and the company will reimburse for labor.  The part should be in early next week.  I hope by Wednesday, since I’m already Unavailable for a job then because the furnace guy is coming.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

Posted in Crochet | 1 Comment

Didn’t Break the Camera

Posted on Saturday, 25 October 2008 by Mrs. DoF

The chip in my camera has been declaring FULL ever since Women’s Retreat and Hurricane Ike back in September.  By looking at photos of the little screen on the back, I would delete a couple that were blurry or otherwise unsuitable, then I could take another one or two.
It was getting annoying, doing this, and I missed a prime afternoon for taking Fall colors photos of the maple tree.

This afternoon, Husband and I are driving by car an hour across the prairie to see son Lucas and to meet his sweetie’s parents.
Major social occasion here.  I’m not sure exactly what happens when his parents meet her parents and there is a wedding to begin planning for Summer, date not yet set.

I needed to deal with the camera chip to be ready for this definite photo op, so this morning I went to a store and spent time with a machine ordering prints of memories.

The words on the screen said a file could not be displayed, so I skipped it.  When I got home, I put the chip in the card reader and looked around on my own screen.  The computer was going a bit nuts, with pop-ups saying something I already knew.
You probably have similar stories to tell.

Anyway, after awhile of futile attempts to DELETE already,
I went and pestered my In-House Computer Support guy,
who took the chip, put it into his camera (which is just like mine) and re-formatted the chip, bringing up a delightful No Images.

In order to prove that all is well, he took this photo of me wearing my hometown hoodie, which was purchased last summer when I went back to the Valley for high school alumni reunion.  Fall is first weather comfortable to use it.


perhaps I should go gel down my cowlick

Our weekend is off to a great start, and promises to get better.

Here’s hoping yours does the same   🙂
~~love and Huggs, Diane

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Busy Elsewhere II

Posted on Thursday, 23 October 2008 by Mrs. DoF

I had just reached the top of the basement steps, after putting in a load of laundry.  Husband called me over to where he was stretching his calf muscles, prior to getting on the treadmill.

I’ve some ups and some downs the last few days.
Today, along with the dark gray rainy weather, was especially down.

Youngest Son Chris is having apartment problems, but he says it is his story to tell, so I can’t write about it for my blog.

Husband wanted me to come across the room so he could wrap his arms around me and mention that fretting does not bring out the best in me, and to tell me that these things have a way of getting sorted out and getting over.

Then he kissed me, lips then forehead.

It’s a good thing, sharing LIFE with him.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

ps Tomorrow, I’m working a day in Kindergarten.
I hope that Play Dough is not on the schedule.

Posted in Family | 2 Comments

Dollar$ Many for Maple $yrup

Posted on Friday, 17 October 2008 by Mrs. DoF

The school job was done a couple hours early today for Homecoming.

I thought I would take advantage of an afternoon free and do grocery shopping before the weekend.  Actually we only needed a couple items I could remember from the list under a magnet on the fridge, and I wasn’t sure if we have enough milk, but I stopped at a store anyway.

One of mine and Husband’s habits to do together is going out for Saturday breakfast.
One of our guilty pleasures is real maple syrup on our pancakes and french toast.
Yes, I do carry a bag with a bottle of maple syrup and one of Cholula sauce to use at our table in the restaurant.
If that is bad manners, I’m gonna shrug and tell you to get over it.
One of the items I remembered from the list was syrup.

At the first store, I misjudged how interesting might be the Clearance aisle, and used up 20 minutes there.  So much for an afternoon stretching out and teasing me with possibilities.
I put a book bag into the cart because I could not miss out on its 90% off = $3.49 price tag.  It looks like it will be good for carrying my large peg loom.

The shelf had a big empty place where Mahalia’s favorite can food flavor should be.  Oh, dear, she won’t eat other brands, or even other flavors by the same brand.  Yeah, I do spoil her.

Into the cart went the 32 ounce jug of maple syrup.  I looked at the tag hanging under it, with the price saying $9.99, and yes, indeedy, that is a good one.

At the checkout, I was just about to swipe my card when I noticed a price of $22.39 on the screen.  The cashier said it was for the maple syrup.  Um, no, I checked the shelf tag said much lower.  So she paged somebody to go verify.

Well, it seems the $9.99 was for just a bottle of syrup, the jugs had been moved too close.

I told her to take it back off, sorry to make her work harder, but that is a whole lot higher than I paid late last summer at SAM’s for the same size jug.

Then I went to a different grocery store which would have the proper flavor cat food.  There were two cans on the shelf, then empty space behind them.  I sure hope the company is just behind in production, not discontinuing it.

I bought those, and some cans of a different flavor that Oscar is willing to eat.  It will be a pain at 6 in the morning, this keeping track of whose is whose bowl of food.

Even though I wasn’t at SAM’s, I still needed maple syrup for tomorrow’s breakfast date, so I went to get some.
The 32 ounce jug had a $21.49 price, which means it is 67c an ounce.  The bottles beside it were 81c an ounce.

I didn’t save much by driving down the street, cat food or no.

Maple syrup is an odd item to judge hard times by.
We earn our money, live frugal with so many other things.

Doggone it, folks can complain about the price of a gallon of fuel for a car, but that ain’t even close to $21.49 for a quart of maple syrup.

Husband says we now have it in hand, it will last through several weekends, so enjoy it.  Our breakfast date is much less expensive than events he’s heard other couples like to do for fun.

Golly, this has been a long day.  I think I’m gonna put on some soft music and crochet a potholder.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

Posted in Reviews | 5 Comments

Just sitting still is a type of work

Posted on Friday, 17 October 2008 by Mrs. DoF

My schedule book said that Oct 17 is West High’s Homecoming, so all ‘feeder’ schools into it would be dismissed early.  Devious me accepted a T A Sub job in a 5th grade classroom done at 1:15 pm.  At an elementary school, I sign in at the office to work as either All Day or Half Day.  Payday shows results.

Well, I’ll tell ya, we might have had a shortened day time-wise, but it sure did feel hours long enough.
All the students in my Social Studies tutoring group have aged a grade level since I had them last Spring, so I pretty much know their quirks.

One kid kept picking at a cuticle.  It’s the same thing I did at that age in similar situations, so I tried to ignore it.  Finally, when blood dripped on a paper, I handed him a tissue and told him to go to the nurse’s office for a cover.  I have a ready supply in my school bag, but this kid needs a change of scenery all too often.

When he got back, it was time to move to another room for a Homecoming Spirit Day celebration, including something called a Pig-Out Plate.  Quite a potluck spread of snacks laid out.
I had the assignment to keep the various bags and boxes from toppling off an overloaded table while the students filed past and loaded their plates.

I noticed the kid with the band-aid kept tugging on it.

Sigh.  If I had the time, I would teach him what to do with a hook and yarn to keep those fingers busy.

As it was, I decided to put my own hand between his finger and his eyes and tell him to leave the cover on to do its work.

He looked upset and said that “A Band-aid doesn’t do any work!”

So I asked him why he had bothered to go to the nurse and get one if it doesn’t work?  And then I asked “What does it do while it is wrapped around your finger?”

“It keeps the blood from dripping onto the paper.”

“Ah, yes, then it is doing good work. Leave it alone!”

The expression on his face said he was perplexed with word uses, but he left the band-aid on his finger.

He decided he didn’t want anything to eat, just some pop.

At the end of the hour, I snapped up a scotch chip cookie, wrapped it in a paper towel, and tucked it into my school bag.  It was all I had time to do, what with supervising and trash pickup.

One kid had been with the Speech Therapist, so a teacher had filled a plate and put it into a zip-grip plastic bag for him to take home.

When owie finger kid protested about food on the bus, he was reminded that Dad comes to get this kid, and so he can take food with him.

More confusion noted.
People have different ways to get home.
The way our brains work is a wonder.
Some folks take longer to make connections than others.

Sitting on our back porch, I ate the cookie, and I found it to be wonderfully yummy.  Usually homemade goodies at school functions are forbidden for health code reasons, but I’m so glad somebody decided to bend the rules today, and I got to taste it.

I’m sure ready for the weekend.

And no, I won’t be going to watch the parade or the football game.

Although any excuse to get out of school early is fine with me.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

Posted in School | 1 Comment